Gilroy 425g Build Thread (All Apex, all the time)

[Reefer525XL]

will the new alk monitor be compatible with the old apex systems or do we have to upgrade our systems to the new apex?

Million dollar question!

While those have been in the works for a while the FMK was released today. The hope would be that the COR won't be far behind.

Yes I think 2 years or so since it was announced. Terrance can confirm that.

 

[Terence]

Guys, while I do not mind sharing on here some product inside baseball from time to time, I really do not want my tank thread to morph into a product discussion.

 

[pdt7361]

Just spent far too much time reading this whole thread and loved every bit of it. I am currently working on my equipment list for a 200+ gallon system and you've given me lots of great ideas to try when I get my first Apex.

 

[Terence]

Just spent far too much time reading this whole thread and loved every bit of it. I am currently working on my equipment list for a 200+ gallon system and you've given me lots of great ideas to try when I get my first Apex.

Excellent. Thanks for following along. It has been a great journey so far!

 

[pdt7361]

Apparently I need to come work for Neptune Systems though - would be nice to just bring home tons of Apex gear

 

[skydancer]

So many things going on. First up, on last Thursday I had a situation where both of my DOS went offline for about 17 hours and I did not know it. However, I started getting alarms on my Alkalinity level and so I went and looked at the logs and sure enough, they were offline for a bit. On Friday, we had a huge storm. I had to crank up the generator for about 7 hours. That is a whole other story.

Anyways, I did not have my dosing online for that time either. Pretty cool you can see in the graph below the times my DOS that is feeding my calcium reactor went offline, the resulting Alk changes, and then the Alk rising again when everything is going on the DOS again. The dips you see in the dosing are at night time when I reduce the flow to the calcium reactor as the coral uptake drops. I think our Alk monitoring solution is going to really change the game out there - and, it is SO easy to use - I have had our prototype running for months and all I do is change out the rinse water, waste container, and add reagent about once every three weeks (mainly because I am using small containers). Also, people will be happy to know also that we predict the price will likely be coming in at less than half what the current solution is out there. (BTW, the small dips you see in the dKh are a prototype anomaly)

How often does your ALK monitor take readings?

 

[Terence]

How often does your ALK monitor take readings?

Every six hours. I could set it for more frequently (every ten minutes if I wished), but honestly in an ongoing use, six hour intervals are perfect.

 

[Terence]

Peace love and tranquility inside the 425 came to a screeching halt yesterday. I came home from work to find my Powder Blue tang (the largest fish in the tank) with multiple gashes on him including one on the cornea. Within seconds I saw the Achilles (which had been peaceful up until now) come over and try and rip him to shreds. I guess the Achilles has acclimated well and decided that the tank is now his turf.

Luckily I was able to net the PB and take him down to the 200g sump to (hopefully) heal up. If he recovers and does well, I think he may just have that as his new personal home.

The Achilles was not bothering any of the other tangs in the tank (but they are also all smaller than him).

Ah, the joys of reefkeeping - I knew it was a stretch to pull this off - at least the Achilles is eating and doing well.

 

[Fishlee]

Peace love and tranquility inside the 425 came to a screeching halt yesterday. I came home from work to find my Powder Blue tang (the largest fish in the tank) with multiple gashes on him including one on the cornea. Within seconds I saw the Achilles (which had been peaceful up until now) come over and try and rip him to shreds. I guess the Achilles has acclimated well and decided that the tank is now his turf.

Luckily I was able to net the PB and take him down to the 200g sump to (hopefully) heal up. If he recovers and does well, I think he may just have that as his new personal home.

The Achilles was not bothering any of the other tangs in the tank (but they are also all smaller than him).

Ah, the joys of reefkeeping - I knew it was a stretch to pull this off - at least the Achilles is eating and doing well.

At least the expensive fish won....
good thing you were able to save the powered blue

 

[Terence]

Powder Blue Tang is healing up nicely in the sump - his new home.

Just did a filter sock change, skimmer clean, and 75g water change in under 35 minutes. Woot!

Bigger tanks are certainly NOT hard to maintain...if you do things right!

 

[Fudsey]

Hey @Terence, How about a updated FTS???? Pleaseeeeeeee

 

[fabutahoun]

Very Nice tank setup, love your fish and corals , Hope some day that my tank be all apex all the time like yours, I am on the track but going slowly and enjoying my ride .

 

[lennyd19]

Terence was just wondering how the DOS on the calcium reactor is working out for you? Also what type of reactor are you using?

 

[Terence]

DOS has been working awesome for this! Most out there think (incorrectly) that you need continuous flow through the reactor. Well, this myth has been busted! I push in/out 240ml in one minute and the pH inside barely changes. Just think, 240ml of 8.2 pH water going into a 12000ml volume reactor with 6.4 pH water. What do you think the change will be? That's 50:1 - If my math is correct, that will be a change of less than .04 pH.

Even running it so much it has only worn out one pump head so far. If you need to flow more than 80ml/min this would not likely be the economical solution for someone. I could tee in the other pump and get it to 160ml/min. For now, it has been keeping up with demand and working like a champ. For those with smaller tanks, this could be a really great solution for sure. It makes adjustment stupid-simple. For instance, I knew my alk uptake overnight would be less, so I simply went in and changed the programming to account for that.

I am using a Deltec fluidized reactor right now. I will likely stop using the fluidized media for reasons I went into a few pages back. Instead I will probably switch to TLF ReBorn media.

 

[lennyd19]

First off I am a huge apex fan. My tank is a lot smaller than yours I have 80 gal total volume I have a Lifereef reactor with reborn and my effluent gets clog every 2-3 days. I was really considering going back to 2 part with another dos or trying this. I just do not know where to start as far as how much to push through the reactor any insight would be great. Thanks.

 

[Terence]

Well first you need to understand what you are doing now and if it keeps the levels where you want. If so, just put a cup on the effluent, time a minute, and see what that is.

If you are not there, then you need to dial in your reactor for the ph you need for reborn and flow to get the effluent to be at 25-30dKh.

 

[lennyd19]

Thanks for the advice. I think I may try your way before just going to directly to 2 part. My current system holds the alk and ca where I want it to. Just gets clog every couple of days from the valve.

 

[Terence]

That makes it easy. Just measure how much it puts out in one minute. The programming to use the DOS for this purpose requires a bit more work. You cannot use the easy graph but instead use profiles. I think I showed how a number of pages back.

 

[jml1149]

How goes the battle with nitrates? I've been running a denitrator sans-ORP probe for a while, and have had ok results. But I'm going to hook one up tonight and give it a go, with the APEX controlling the feed similar to what you have described. Great information, thanks!

 

[adonis854]

Well first you need to understand what you are doing now and if it keeps the levels where you want. If so, just put a cup on the effluent, time a minute, and see what that is.

If you are not there, then you need to dial in your reactor for the ph you need for reborn and flow to get the effluent to be at 25-30dKh.

HELLO TERENCE ..IM FROM SALINAS AND WAS WONDERING IF YOU OR SOMEONE OUT THERE KNOWS HOW TO RE CALIBRATE MY APEX NEPTUNES SYSTEM..I BOUGHT THIS 90G TANK SETUP FROM CRAIGLIST .AND THE SETUP WAS BEING MANAGED BY THE APEX SYSTEM..IM SURE AFTER THE TRANSFER THE NUMBERS ARE OFF...